Resident of Weare Pleads Guilty to Bank Fraud

CONCORD, NH—Renee Pelletier, 59, of Weare, pleaded guilty to bank fraud in United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire, announced United States Attorney John P. Kacavas.

From June 2008 to August 2011, Pelletier was employed as a part-time bookkeeper by an excavation company in Merrimack, New Hampshire, that maintained a checking account at St. Mary’s bank, a federally insured credit union.

While working for the company, Pelletier used a variety of dishonest methods to steal money from the company’s bank account. Without receiving permission or authority from the company’s owner, Pelletier forged the owner’s endorsements on 315 checks, totaling $32,504.04, that were drawn on the company’s account and used the money for her personal benefit. On 233 other occasions, Pelletier used the credit union’s online banking system to make payments totaling $19,103.15 from the company’s account to business entities to whom she owned money.

Pelletier is scheduled to be sentenced on July 9, 2013, and is facing a prison term of up to 30 years and a fine of up to $1,000,000.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Bob Kinsella.